davis



No. 606,8!9. I Patented July '5. I898.

H. P. DAVIS.

CONTACT DEVICE FOR ELECTRICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLES.

I (Application filed Apr. 6, 1896. Renewed Mar. 16, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

ATTODRIVEY.

No. 606,819. Patent dhl'ulyfi, 189a. H. P. DAVIS.

' CONTACT DEVICE FORELE'GTRIGALLY PRO PELL ED VEHICLES.

. (Applicatiop filed Apr. 6, 1896. Renewed Main 16, 1897.) (No Model.) 2SheetsSheet 2.

- WIT/158858.- INVENTOH.

(364% I I By 'Arroklvsr. 7

U IT STATES PATENT rrcE.

HARRY P. DAVIs, or.1 1TTsBuRC, PENNSYLVANIA, AssicNoR To THEWESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 606,819, dated July 5,1898.

Application filedA fl 6,1396 Renewed March 16, 1897. Serial No. 627,894.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, HARRY P. DAVIS, a citi--- zen of the United Statesfresiding at, Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ContactDevices for Electrically-Propelled Vehicles; (Case No. 696,) or

which the following is'ia' specification.

in connection with electrically-propelled vehicles for making Contactwith overhead conductors, and particularly to that class of apparatusembodying extended contact devices having substantially no lateralmovement with reference to thelvehicle as distinguished from groovedcontact-wheels supported so as to be movable laterally with reference tothe Vehicle in order to maintain a continuous contact with thesupply-conductor.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a contact devicewhich shall be as light as possible consistentwith strength anddurability and which shall be simple and easily constructed and theparts of which subject to wear may bereadilyreplaced; second, to providea simple'an'd eflicient means for elevating and supporting the contactdevice, and, third, to provide an efficient and reliable means forautomatically locking the reversible supporting base or boom in workingposition.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation ofmycurrent-collecting apparatus. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of thecontact device, the lower portion of the supporting-arm being brokenaway. Fig. 3 is a view, partially in front elevation and partially insection, of the stationary portions of the Contact device, parts beingbroken away. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 00 a: of Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the boom and the lower part ofthe contactsupporting arm. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the part shownin Fig. 5, the locking deviceand supporting-casting for the boom beingomitted. -Fig.7 is a plan view of one of the devices for locking theboom in working position. i

Reference 1 being now had to the drawings in detail, 1 is asupporting-base, which may be the top of a car or a separate base-piecerigidly fastened thereto.

l 2 is a circular metal casting suitably fastened to the base-piece 1and provided with an annular track '3. v

. 4 is the boom, one end of which is pivoted to the casting 2 and isprovided with a roller J I 5, which is in position to engage the annularMy invention relatesto apparatus employed tfack'3 and support the boomwhen moved'in either direction from its normal position.

5 is the supporting-arm for the contact device, the lower end of whichis mounted upon a horizontal pivot or shaft having bearings in the outerend of the boom 4. Surrounding the lower part of the arm 5 is a coiledspring 16. This maybe a single spring, or it may be inade in two or moreparts, as may be found most convenient in practice. The lower end of thespring 6 bears either against the end of a socket 7 or against a collarresting upon the upper end of such socket. Mounted loosely upon the arm5, above the spring 6, is a head 8. A pair of rods 9, one on each sideof the arm 5, extend through openings in the head 8, which are ofsufficient size to enable the rods to have considerable lateral playtherein, and these rodsare provided at or near their upper ends withsuitable stops, preferably nuts lO, which may be adjusted in position.by means of screw-threads on the upper ends of the rods. The lower endsof the rods 9'are provided'with hooks, which engage openings inbearing-arms 11, rigidly mounted on the boom 4. Two rods 12, one on eachside of the arm 5, have a loose engagement by means of hooks at theirlower ends with arms or lugs which are formed integral with or arerigidly connected with the end of the boom 4. The rods 12 extend throughopenings in the head 8 and are provided at or near their upper ends withnuts 14. The arms 13 should be of such a length and be placed at suchangle that they will cooperate with the rods 12 and the head 8 againstthe action of the spring 6, so as to bring the arm 5 to the maximumelevation desired in practice to press the contact device against theoverhead conductor. The nuts 10 on the rods 9 are located at'such aposition that they will serve to check the upward movement of thecontact device before the arm 5 reaches a vertical position. The extremeelevation to which the arm 5 is limited may of course be anything thatis desired. As the arm 5 is always inclined more or less in the samedirection with reference to the boom, it is obvious that when it isdesired to reverse the direction of movement of the car it is necessaryto reverse the contact device, its supporting-arm, and the boom. It isalso necessary to lock the boom in operative position, so that it shallnot accidentally move from its proper position. In order to effect thisresult, I provide a bolt 15, mounted in suitable lugs 10, depending fromthe lower side of the front end of the boom, so as to slide freelytherein, and surround this bolt with a coiled spring 17, which normallypresses the said bolt inward. I also provide two castings 18 of the sameconstruct-ion, one for each end of the car, which are suitably bolted tothe base 1. Each casting has an upper and a lower plate spaced apart,and mounted between these plates are two locking-dogs 10. These dogs arepivoted to the casting at their outer ends and extend inward toward eachother, a sufficient space being left between their inner ends to receivethe end of the bolt 15. They are also constructed or provided withauxiliary teeth 20, with one of which the end of the bolt will engageand prevent the boom from swinging outward if it is not moved far enoughto bring it into the central position, in which the end of the bolt willbe received between the ends of the dogs. Each of the dogs is providedwith a lateral projecting lug 21, and these lugs are connected by acoiled spring 22,which tends to throw the free inner ends of the dogsoutward into position to be engaged by the bolt 15. A roller 23 ispreferably mounted between suitable ears projecting from the ends of thecasting 18 in such position as to be engaged by the lower edges of thearms 11 when the boom is swung into position, its movement into thecentral position being thus facilitated. These arms 1l,in connectionwith the upper surface of the casting 1S,with which they engage, afforda stable support for the front end of the boom, and thus tend to preventany rocking motion.

livoted to a lug or lugs 21-, projecting from the lower side of theboom, is a small lever or bar 25, on one end of which is mounted aroller 26. This roller 20 is pressed downward by means of a spring 27,interposed between the upper side of the bar 25 and the boom l or asuitable projection 28 on the lug 2-1:. This roller 26 makes engagementwith a stationary metal contact-piece 29 when the boom is locked inworking position, and thus completes the electric circuit from thesupplyconductor to the motors. The locking of the boom in the properposition before the car can be started is thus insured. This featureconstitutes no part of my invention, but is shown and described asforming a part of the entire combination used in practice.

In order to unlock the boom and to reverse the position of the same, atwo-armed lever 30 is pivoted to the front end of the boom, the lowerarm having a suitable engagement with the outward end of the bolt 1Attached to the upper arm of the lever is a cord 31, which extendsupward along the arm 5 over a pulley 32 on the under side of the armnear its upper end and thence downward into position to be grasped bythe motorman or conductor when it is desired to lower the contactdevice.

The normal position of the upper arm of the lever 30 with reference tothe arm 5 is such that the latter may be lowered a considerable distancewithout withdrawing the bolt 15. \Vhen thearmis,however,broughtnearly toa horizontal position, a further pull upon the cord 31 will withdraw thebolt 15 from be tween the inner ends of the dogs 19, and the boom maythen be swung around and automaticallylocked in the reverse position.This specific means forlowering the contact device and unlocking theboom I do not claim as my invention.

The contact-head, which is carried by the upper end of the arm 5,comprises a sheet metal, preferably spring-steel, frame made in twoparts 33 and 31, bent into the form shown most clearly in Fig. 3 of thedrawings and riveted together, as there indicated. The horizontalportions of these pieces 33 and are centrally perforated and slippedupon the upper end of the arm 5 and held thereon by collars orother-suitable means, as indicated. The upper and outer ends of thesepieces 33 and ill are also provided with openings, and in each pair ofsuch openings is fitted a tube 35. In the ends of the part 3 just beneath the tubes 35, are openings in which are fitted suitable bearings36 for the central contact-roller 37. The roller37 is preferablyprovided with small beveled flanges at its ends, as indicated in Fig. 2.A small rod or tube 38 extends through each of the tubes and projectslaterally in an approximately straight line some distance therefrom, andis then curved downward and outward to form a guide to prevententanglement of the contacthead with crossing or branching overheadwires, and thence extends downwardly and inwardly toward thesupporting-arm 5, the lower ends of the two rods being received in andsupported by suitable sockets in a collar 39, rigidly mounted on the arm5". A curved and tapering piece of sheet metal 39 is mounted upon andfastened to each of the tubes 35 or to the supporting-frame and projectsoutward nearly or quite to the bend in the rod 38. This constitutes acontact and wearing piece for engagement with the overhead conductor incase the roller 37 should not be in engagement therewith. In view of thefact that the arm 5 is always occupying someposition between horizontaland vertical in the same quadrant these earing-plates 39 need not extendover appreciably more than ninety degrees of arc.

I claim as my invention 1. A contact device for engagement with overheadelectric conductors, comprising a roller, a supporting head or frametherefor, formed of two sheet-metal strips of different shape rigidlyfastened together and provided with suitable bearings for the roller,laterallyextending guard and'brace rods and curved, tapering,sheet-metal plates forming continuations of the contact-surface of theroller.

2. A supporting-arm provided at one end with a contact-head comprising aroller, a supporting-frame therefor constructed of a plurality ofsheet-metal strips riveted together to form an open-work structure andprovided with suitable bearings for the roller, laterally-extendingguard and brace rods and curved sheet-metal plates supported by saidframe and brace-rods and constituting continuations of thecontact-surface of the roller.

3. The combination with a contact-supporting arm, a reversible supportto which said arm is pivoted or hinged so as to move in a vertical planeand a coiled spring surroundin g said arm near one end thereof, of afreelymovable head mounted on said arm above the spring, tension-rodsextending from said head to the reversible support and check-rodsextending fromsaid support through the head and provided with stops forlimiting the up-' ward movement of the supporting-arm.

'4. The combination with a contact device for engagement with overheadconductors, a supporting-arm therefor pivoted or hinged to move in avertical plane, a supporting-base for said arm pivoted to swing in ahorizontal plane, a coiled spring surrounding said arm near the lowerend thereof, a movable head mounted on the arm above the spring, a pairof tension-rods extending from said head to the horizontally-movablesupporting-basejand at an angle to the supporting-arm, and a paircheck-rods loosely fastened at one end to the horizontally-movablesupporting-base, extending through the movable head at an angle to thesupporting-arm and provided with stops for engagement with said head tolimit the upward movement of the supporting-arm.

5. A reversible support for electric-railway contact devices providedwith a locking-bolt, in combination with a locking-head comprising apair of dogs extending inwardly toward each other and means foryieldingly holding said dogs in position to be engaged by thelocking-bolt.

6. A reversible support for electric-railway contact devices providedwith a spring-actuated locking-bolt at one end thereof, in combinationwith a stationary locking-head comprising a pair of pivoted dogs spacedapart for the reception of the locking-bolt between their inner ends andprovided with auxiliary projections or teeth for engagement with the endof the locking-bolt.

7. Alocking-head comprisinga casting having an upper and alower platespaced apart, a pair'of double-toothed dogs pivoted between such platesand projecting inwardly toward each other, and means for yieldinglyretaining them in their normal position.

8. A locking-head comprising two plates separated by an interveningspace, a pair of dogs pivoted in said space and projecting inwardlytoward each other, and a spring holdin g said dogs yieldingly in normalposition.

9. A reversible support for electric-railway contact devices, incombination with mechanism for locking'said support in position,portions of said mechanism being located respectively on the car-roofand on the reversible support and each having a movable member. a

10. A reversible support for electric-railway contact devices having alock or latch member which is actuated to release the support, incombination with a member attached to the car-roof which is actuated tolock the support in position.

11. A look for reversible current-collecting devices comprising a pairof movable dogs and a cooperating bolt.

12. A lock for reversible current-collecting devices comprising twocooperating members each of which has a movable part and a springagainst which said movable part rest-s.

13. Means for lockinga reversible support for electric-railway contactdevices in position comprising jaws and a cooperating, springactuatedbolt, in combinationwith means for withdrawing the bolt from the jaws.

14. The combination with a reversible support for electric-railwaycontact devices, of a spring-actuated locking member supported therebyand two stationary members having spring-actuated parts with which saidfirstnamed member engages.

15. A reversible support for electric-railway contact devices incombination with automatically-operated means for locking the support ineither of two positions and means connected with the contact device forunlocking said support.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 1st day ofApril, A. D. 1896.

HARRY P. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

WESLEY G. CARR, HUBERT C. TENER.

